


The Reeds go to war

by filhadoboto



Series: Wishes for Season 8 [11]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Meera returns home, Meera talk about their journey, conversation between mother and daughter, the Crannogmen go to Winterfell, training with weapons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 19:50:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18212831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/filhadoboto/pseuds/filhadoboto
Summary: After hearing Meera’s story, Howland Reed makes an important decision.





	The Reeds go to war

**Author's Note:**

> I'm very curious about Howland Reed and the Crannogmen and would love for them to join the fight against the Night King.
> 
> English is not my native language, sorry for grammar errors. In google translate I trust!

 

The way back home was being _lonely_.

 

For the first time in her life, Meera Reed went on her own, without her brother, without _anyone_.

 

Every step she took took her closer to home, to her people, to the arms of her parents. Seeing Greywater Watch floating in the waters of the Green Fork would certainly make her smile and cry at the same time, and inevitably the memories of a life lived next to her dear brother Jojen would invade her mind and would free her from certain painful memories that haunted her now.

 

It would be an arduous task to tell everything that had happened on her journey to her parents, but necessary. Her people needed to know what was on the way, the great evil that lurked beyond the Wall at that very moment and she knew it was only a matter of time before the Night King could destroy the enchantments and spells that protected the Wall, just as he had done with those who protected the cave of the Three-Eyed Raven.

 

The sentinels of her people spotted her before she realized she was only a few hours away from Greywater Watch. The floating houses and fortresses of the Crannogmen were considered a mystery by the other inhabitants of the kingdom and, for the great majority, they were impossible to be found. However, for those who knew how to recognize and follow the signs, it was as easy as following a road. And her unconscious had followed the signs that would lead her to Greywater even with her conscious drowned in painful memories of her last months of life.

 

"Welcome back, Lady Reed." One of the sentinels greeted her and it took her a few seconds to realize that she had been staring at him for longer than she should have.

 

She gave him a tired smile. "Thank you, Willow. It's so good to be back."

 

He nodded to his watch fellow, stood beside her and escorted her for the rest of the way to the fortress.

 

"My father and mother, are they well?" She asked after they had walked for almost an hour in silence.

 

"Yes, my Lady." He looked at the vegetation around them. "Lady Reed has eagerly awaited your return for many moons. And Lord Reed told us that we should expand our watch area, because he feels there is something very bad approaching."

 

"My father is right." she said. _As always_.

 

She could picture her mother looking hopefully through the windows of Greywater every new day, looking for a sign of her children's safe return. She waited for Willow to ask for Jojen, but he didn’t and they walked on in silence.

 

Meera's heart filled with joy for the first time in many months by the time she saw the fortress, illuminated by the sun that was almost reaching the horizon, and her feet began to run when she saw her father waiting for her on the bank of the river. Of course he would know she was on her way home. When Howland Reed's strong arms wrapped around his daughter's weakened body, she was already sobbing.

 

Safe in her father's arms, Meera let herself collapse. She was _so_ _tired_ of fighting, _so_ _tired_ of being strong and all she wanted at that moment was to be the little girl who always looked for her father's lap and solace when she was sad.

 

She was not quite sure what had happened after her father had hugged her. The next thing her mind realized was that she was in her own bed, her clothes had been changed and her body had been completely clean of the dirt of her journey.

 

Looking around, she noticed the sleeping bodies of her parents in two chairs by the window of her quarters, they both seemed to have fallen asleep while watching their daughter's sleep. Jayna Reed's long black curls were loose and covered part of her face and contrasted with her father's lighter hair.

 

After a few seconds of watching them, Meera stood up and walked over to them. Her mother's face didn’t seem to have changed much as her father's appearance had aged many years while she'd been away. His light hair was whiter than she remembered, and even with his face relaxed with sleep, she could see that there were new wrinkles on his skin.

 

Fondly, she touched her father's cheek and he woke with a start. He smiled to see her awake and she smiled back. He touched his sleeping wife’s leg with affection and she awoke too. Her arms were around her daughter even before Meera could smile at her.

 

"How good to have you back, my dear!" Her mother's arms tightened and she felt tears filling her eyes. Howland got up and hugged them both. Meera allowed herself to relax in the safety of her parents' arms.

 

"I've missed you so much. I was so afraid I wouldn’t be able to see your faces again." Said she and her mother laid several kisses on her face "How long have I slept?"

 

Howland looked out the window before replying "Almost a whole day. You practically fainted from fatigue in my arms, my dear."

 

It wasn’t just fatigue that weighed on her body "I have so many things to tell you, father."

 

He laid a kiss on her hair. "First you need to feed. Only then we will hear your story."

 

Meera didn’t argue and walked along with her parents to the fortress’ kitchen. It was good to walk between the walls of her home, to see the faces she had known since childhood, and to feel safe again, even knowing that this security wouldn’t last long. The warm, home-cooked food made her both happy and sad at the same time, for she was at home, but her brother wasn’t. He had chosen to depart even knowing that his destiny was to die beyond the Wall, away from his home and his parents, but to know that this was his fate didn’t make his loss less painful.

 

After being fed, her father led the two to their own chambers. The two of them sat facing her and Howland gave her a slight nod, prompting her to start talking. And that's exactly what Meera did. She told her parents everything that had happened since Jojen and she left until the moment when the new Three-Eye Raven and she had passed through the gates of Winterfell safely.

 

Her mother had begun to cry softly when she had heard how Jojen had died and Howland had held her tight and comforted her, saying that their beloved son hadn’t died in vain. Both were impressed to discover that the children of the forest still existed and when Meera said that Benjen Stark had helped them safely back to the Wall, Howland had said that he had always been a loyal and brave man.

 

She then told them that Lord Eddard's bastard son, Jon Snow, had been chosen as King in the North and about his journey to Dragonstone in order to gain the support of Queen Daenerys Targaryen in the fight against the Night King.

 

"The army of the dead is on the way, and the whole North is gathering in Winterfell, father. All who can fight are being trained to defend their lives and we must also prepare to defend ourselves."

 

Howland was thoughtful for a moment. Jayna took his hand, squeezed it lightly and he then cast an inquiring look at his wife who gave him a nod. "We're going to do something so much better than to prepare our defenses." Meera frowned and he continued "The Crannogmen aren’t going to be out of this war. House Reed made an oath to Stark House and we will be faithful to this oath. We will take our army to Winterfell, we will join this fight and we will be on the side of the whole North when the time comes to face our true enemy."

 

She didn’t expect less of him and hearing her father's words made her smile and filled her heart with hope. Howland gave a light kiss to his wife's lips, got up, laid a kiss on her forehead, and before leaving them he said, "You don’t have to go with us to Winterfell, my sweet Meera. I couldn’t bear to see you suffer for being again near Bran Stark."

 

She watched with surprised eyes as her father stepped out the door. Meera had omitted from her parents the part in which she had said goodbye to Bran, for the moment had been like a dagger being thrust into her heart, but her father knew her too well and she and her emotions were like an open book to him.

 

It wasn’t her intention to return to Winterfell after saying goodbye to Bran Stark’s ghost. Part of her understood that what he had gone through had changed him so deeply that there was almost nothing left of the boy she had known on her journey beyond the Wall... but there was another part, the part that had been hurt by his coldness as he said goodbye to her, the part that hoped she wouldn’t have to see him again, and not having to feel the pain that would surely invade her when she saw the emptiness in his eyes again.

 

Jayna was looking at her with affection, and Meera soon saw that her mother had understood the meaning of her father's remark very well.

 

"Do you want to talk about it, my dear?"

 

She felt a lonely tear trickle down her face as she nodded. Her mother reached out her arms, inviting her to sit beside her. Jayna wrapped her arms around her daughter's body and placed a lingering kiss on her forehead.

 

Safe in her mother's arms, Meera took a deep breath before telling about the moment of her farewell to Bran and how she had felt "I knew very well what his fate was, mother... but even knowing it... even so..."

 

"Even so, you fell in love with him."

 

She nodded and more silent tears rolled down her face.

 

"But he, the Bran whom I fell in love with, _died_ in that cave when he took the place of the old Three-Eye Raven who had been killed by the Night King. I could see the emptiness behind his eyes and I think nothing of the old Bran remained except the body and the name."

 

Jayna slowly caressed her daughter's black curls. "A woman's first love is something magical, it's like it marks our passing from child to woman, but it's rarely with our first love that we build a family." Her mother said softly "And when our heart is broken, we think that if we cannot stay with the one we love, we will never be able to love again."

 

Meera looked at her, frowning. "Did you love another man before my father?"

 

Jayna smiled. "I did. Just like you, my daughter, I had a first love and I thought I would die if I didn’t stay with him and that I would never be able to fall in love with another man." She laid a kiss on her daughter's hair and continued "Can you guess what happened?"

 

She thought for a moment, "Have you forgotten him and fallen in love again?"

 

His mother nodded. "Yes. It may seem exaggerated, but the moment I met your father, it was as if I had never liked another man. He healed my heart in such a way that it's as if it's never been broken." They were both silent for a moment "What I mean, Meera, is that the fact that you don’t stay with your first love doesn’t mean that you can never love again. If you don’t close yourself to love, love will find a way to heal you and prepare you for the person the gods have done for you."

 

Jayna held her daughter in her arms for a few more minutes until one of the servants warned her that Howland was waiting for her. She released her daughter, laid a kiss on her cheeks, and left.

 

Meera stood up and looked out the window. The night had come and the snow was falling lightly. She thought about the words of her parents and wondered how she would feel if she were to come face to face with Bran again.

 

Would it hurt to see the emptiness in his eyes? Could his emotionless words hurt her heart like the last time? Could she face him without thinking about what it might have been if he were still the boy she'd met at Winterfell?

 

She sighed, the cold wind reminded her of her journey beyond the Wall, reminding her that the Bran she had known, the Bran whom she had become _fond of_ , the Bran that she ... had died in that cave and she _would never see him again_.

 

 

**\---**

 

 

A few days after Meera's arrival, one of the swamp watchers reached Greywater with a message from Winterfell. Meistre Wolkan had written that the army of the dead had been sighted by Bran near the Wall, more precisely in the region of the castle of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. Howland, then, had sent messages to all the towns of Crannogmen that inhabited the region of the Neck, calling them to the war.

 

In the days that followed, the inhabitants of Greywater began preparations for their journey. There were spears and tridents to be sharpened, arrows to be made, shields to be prepared, armor to be repaired, supplies to be packaged. The members of house Fenn and their warriors were the first to arrive and with each passing day more men and women came to be part of the army that would march to Winterfell.

 

Meera spent most of her time hunting and training and sometimes helping the people who came to Greywater to train and prepare their weapons. In some days, her mother trained with her and in others her father. Howland was a very skilled warrior and always had new tricks to teach his daughter. Her day was always full of things to occupy her body and mind, but her nights were for herself. During the night, she was forced to face her feelings and the words of her parents, who were still pounding in her head.

 

Yes, it would be difficult to see Bran again, but it would be infinitely more difficult and painful if she stayed behind in Greywater. She would be mad with fear and anxiety if she let her parents go to war against the army of the dead without her at their side.

 

She smiled when she realized that her decision had already been made. When the Crannogmen marched North, Meera would be at the side of her parents and her people.

 

 

**\---**

 

 

And on her parents' side she was when the three walked together with house Reed’s vassals through the great hall of Winterfell where they were greeted with surprise and gratitude by King Jon Snow, his sister Arya Stark and by Ser Davos Seaworth.

 

Outside the fortress, the Crannogmen had come across an enormous sea of tents and an even larger number of foreign soldiers, identified by her father as Dothraki warriors and Unsullied soldiers, which could only mean that King Jon had success in his mission in the South.

 

The King welcomed them and Meera breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn’t their brother's to receive them. He led them to the planning room where, with the help of a map of the northern lands, he explained to everyone the plan of battle and how the forces had been distributed on the ground and that Queen Daenerys was making a reconnaissance of the terrain with her dragons. When they finished talking about the battle plans, Lady Arya invited her to train and she accepted.

 

"Can I ask about her?" Meera asked as they walked down the corridors of the fortress on their way to the training yard.

 

"Who?"

 

"The Queen. Your brother spoke about her with _such_ fervor and pride. It made me very curious about her."

 

Arya gave her a smile. "I don’t know where to start. It's hard to describe a woman like Daenerys Targaryen." Meera frowned and Arya continued. "She is an extraordinary woman and a warrior queen, just as her ancestors Visenya and Rhaenys were. And when she is mounted on her black dragon, it is as if she were Aegon, the conqueror, reborn!" There was a gleam in Arya's eyes as she added, "But behind this warrior queen, she is a sweet, gentle and intelligent woman and cares about the well-being of the people of Westeros."

 

In the distance Meera heard a thunderous sound of an animal she had never heard before. She looked at Arya and the girl was smiling and said, "It's the dragons. She must be back from reconnaissance and the dragons must have been agitated by the smell of the Crannogmen. But don’t worry, they will not hurt anyone, they know how to differentiate friends from enemies." Meera nodded, her heart beating faster "You'll be able to meet her soon and we can go see the dragons closely after our training, if you'd like."

 

Meera nodded and said with a smile "I never thought I would live to see dragons, but after spending months with the children of the forest beyond the Wall, I shouldn’t doubt anything else."

 

The other girl stopped walking and Meera stared at her. "Thank you for bringing my brother back safely home." Arya said with gratitude in her eyes. "Without you, another part of my family would have been lost."

 

Meera nodded and there was sadness in her voice as she said, "Unfortunately, I couldn’t save everyone. I'm sorry about the deaths of Hodor and Rickon. Hodor sacrificed himself so we could escape the Night King and Rickon was a fierce and brave little boy and wanted to go with us beyond the Wall, but we thought he and Osha would be safer with the Karstark. I was very sad to know how they were betrayed and murdered. The three deserved a better fate than what they had."

 

"And I'm sorry for your brother." Meera nodded and she continued. "My family suffered many betrayals, even from those who swore loyalty to us. But the honored ones are still on our side." Arya gave her a grateful look and Meera smiled at her. "It's thanks to loyal and honorable people like the Reed and the Mormont that today the North is united again and ready to face our greatest enemy." Meera nodded "And if it weren’t for all that Bran learned and by what he became on his journey, our chances of winning would be much smaller and the Night King could catch the living unprepared as he did eight thousand years ago."

 

"Becoming the Three-Eye Raven was Bran's fate. Just as it was my brother's guide him and mine to help them fulfill their destinies."

 

"It's a shame that this has taken such a high price. I miss the bright, full-of-life kid my brother was."

 

"Me too." Meera said.

 

"It's as if he had come back a different person and only small pieces of who he was had left."

 

"I think we all lost a piece of who we used to be during our journeys and that it was those losses that made us stronger."

 

Arya nodded, and as they passed through the forge, her eyes rested on a man with dark hair and then said with a smile, "Fortunately, some important pieces sometimes come back to us."

 

In the practice yard, they found Lady Brienne and her young squire assisting in training the villagers. Arya made a point of showing how Lady Lyanna Mormont and Lady Alys Karstark had natural talent for sword and archery while Lord Ned Umber appeared to have been born with a spear in his hands.

 

As Arya and Lady Brienne talked, she noted that Podrick had evolved a lot since the last time she had seen him with a sword in his hand. He noticed that she was watching him and gave her a hand wave and a shy but bright smile. Without thinking, she found herself waving and smiling back at him.

 

Arya and she chose a corner away from everyone and Meera wielded her trident while the other girl wielded a thin sword.

 

"This is a beautiful sword." She said with a slight smile.

 

Arya smiled. "Thank you. It was a gift from Jon. And it's also one of the few pieces of who I was that I was able to keep with me."

 

Meera felt a pang of pain in her heart as she remembered her own brother. The only thing left of Jojen was the memories of their life together.

 

"You must be quick to be able to fight with a sword like that."

 

"I just need to be quicker than my opponent."

 

At that moment, Meera decided that she liked Arya. If both survived the war against the Night King, it would be very interesting and fun to have a girl like her as a friend. She breathed and held tight her trident, "Ready?"

 

Arya gave her a slight nod, and they began to circle each other, watching closely every movement of her opponent. Wanting to test her speed, Meera was the first to attack and Arya easily diverted from her attacks before counterattacking and forcing Meera to use the handle of her weapon as a shield to protect her from Arya's sword.

 

With each round of attacks and counterattacks, Meera could see how much the two were in balance, even if their fighting styles were different. After nearly twenty minutes of intense training, neither had managed to reach any vital point of the other.

 

A round of applause echoed through the courtyard as the two paused to rest. Jon, Daenerys, Jyana, and Howland were also among the spectators and looked at both with pride and admiration on their faces. Yet it was the look of _complete adoration_ in Podrick's eyes that made her smile, and for the first time in a long time she felt her heart pounding over something other than fear.

 

Meera realized that she had _definitely_ made the right decision when she chose to return to Winterfell.

 

**Author's Note:**

> At some point as I wrote this story, I started to ship Meera and Podrick and I couldn't get it out of my head. #Meerick!
> 
> I didn’t invent a wife for Howland. His wife in the books is called Jyana and, from what I've researched, she's alive.
> 
> Thanks for reading it!
> 
> Did you like it? Leave a comment. Leave kudos.
> 
> You com say "Hello" to me on Tumblr and Twitter: @filhadoboto


End file.
